Microstructure and thermal stability of low-oxygen SiC fibers prepared by an economical chemical vapor curing method

Continuous SiC fibers (SiC-CVC fibers) with low oxygen content (~2 wt%) were prepared by pyrolysis of polycarbosilane (PCS) fibers cured with chemical vapor curing (CVC). PCS fibers were cured by cyclohexene vapor as curing agent. Their structure and properties were compared with those of SiC fibers obtained from electron beam irradiation curing (SiC-EB fibers). SiC-CVC fibers were similar to SiC-EB fibers, with distinctly better thermomechanical stability than that of fibers cured by thermal oxidation curing (commercial KD-I fibers). CVC is a more economical and practicable approach for preparing high-performance SiC fibers than other strategies.     

Optimized laser processing of calibration blocks for grinding burn detection with Barkhausen noise

Calibration samples for the Barkhausen noise (BN) method were produced with laser processing. A planet gear wheel used for production quality control was subjected to laser irradiation to verify the BN sensor output. Different samples were found to respond similarly to the laser processing although the laser parameters needed to be adjusted for different surface qualities separately. The surface optimization for laser processing was studied with different surface qualities of samples. The ground surface was compared with a sandblasted and vibratory ground surface. The ground and sandblasted surfaces were both amenable to the laser processing whereas the vibratory grinding process created inhomogeneous surfaces for laser beam absorption. Laser processing was found to produce uniform changes in the residual stress values in two perpendicular measuring directions. The root mean square value of the BN voltage signal exhibited linear correlations with the values of the residual stress and surface hardness.     

Passenger thermal comfort and behavior: a field investigation in commercial aircraft cabins

Passengers' behavioral adjustments warrant greater attention in thermal comfort research in aircraft cabins. Thus, a field investigation on 10 commercial aircrafts was conducted. Environment measurements were made and a questionnaire survey was performed. In the questionnaire, passengers were asked to evaluate their thermal comfort and record their adjustments regarding the usage of blankets and ventilation nozzles. The results indicate that behavioral adjustments in the cabin and the use of blankets or nozzle adjustments were employed by 2/3 of the passengers. However, the thermal comfort evaluations by these passengers were not as good as the evaluations by passengers who did not perform any adjustments. Possible causes such as differences in metabolic rate, clothing insulation and radiation asymmetry are discussed. The individual difference seems to be the most probable contributor, suggesting possibly that passengers who made adjustments had a narrower acceptance threshold or a higher expectancy regarding the cabin environment. Local thermal comfort was closely related to the adjustments and significantly influenced overall thermal comfort. Frequent flying was associated with lower ratings for the cabin environment.     

Reliability and optical properties of LED lens plates under high temperature stress

In this investigation the thermal degradation mechanisms of Bisphenol A Polycarbonate (BPA-PC) plates at the temperature range 100–140 °C are studied. The BPA-PC plates are currently used both in light conversion carriers in LED modules and optical lenses in LED-based products. In this study BPA-PC plates are aged at elevated temperature of 100–140 °C for a period up to 3000 h. Optical and chemical properties of the thermally-aged plates were studied using UV–Vis spectrophotometer, FTIR–ATR spectrometer, and integrated sphere. The results show that increasing the thermal ageing time leads to yellowing, loss of optical properties, and decrease of the light transmission and of the relative radiant power value of BPA-PC plates. The results also depict that there is not much discoloration within the first 1500 h of thermal ageing. The rate of yellowing significantly increases at the end of this induction period. Formation of oxidation products is identified as the main mechanism of yellowing. An exponential-based reliability model is also presented to calculate the rate of degradation reaction and to predict the life-time of BPA-PC plates.     

An experimental study on the temperature and structural behavior of a concrete wall exposed to fire after a high-velocity impact by a hard projectile

Projectiles, such as turbine blades, can be released in an accident and impact structures. Airplanes and other flying objects can also become impact projectiles. These impacts occasionally cause fire when fire loads, such as oil, fuel, and other combustible materials, are present. This study examines the thermal insulation performance of concrete plates and the structural fire behavior of load-bearing reinforced concrete walls that are exposed to fire after a high-velocity impact by a hard projectile. Impact and fire tests were carried out using small-scale concrete plates and reinforced concrete walls. The results show the influence of local damage and the advantage of short-fiber reinforced concrete subjected to impact loads and fire.     

FeSiBPNbCu alloys with high glass-forming ability and good soft magnetic properties

Effects of Cu addition on the glass-forming ability (GFA), thermal stability, magnetic properties and crystallization process of (Fe_0.76Si_0.09B_0.1P_0.05)_99−xNb₁Cu_x (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1) alloys were investigated. The introduction of Cu effectively stimulates the precipitation of the α-Fe(Si) without obvious deterioration of the GFA, and successfully modifies the simultaneous precipitation of α-Fe(Si), Fe₂B and Fe₃(B,P) phases in (Fe_0.76Si_0.09B_0.1P_0.05)₉₉Nb₁ alloy into separable precipitation of each phase at different temperatures during annealing, leading to the enhancement of soft magnetic properties. The saturation magnetic flux density of the representative (Fe_0.76Si_0.09B_0.1P_0.05)_98.25Nb₁Cu_0.75 alloy could be enhanced from 1.43 to 1.51 T after annealing at 530 °C for 10 min due to the precipitation of α-Fe(Si) nanoparticles with a diameter of about 22 nm dispersing randomly in the amorphous matrix. The integration of high GFA and excellent soft magnetic properties makes the FeSiBPNbCu alloys promising soft magnetic materials for industrial applications.     

A Comprehensive Comparison of the Analytical and Numerical Prediction of the Thermal History and Solidification Microstructure of Inconel 718 Products Made by Laser Powder-Bed Fusion

The finite-element (FE) model and the Rosenthal equation are used to study the thermal and microstructural phenomena in the laser powder-bed fusion of Inconel 718. A primary aim is to comprehend the advantages and disadvantages of the Rosenthal equation (which provides an analytical alternative to FE analysis), and to investigate the influence of underlying assumptions on estimated results. Various physical characteristics are compared among the FE model, Rosenthal equation, and experiments. The predicted melt pool shapes compared with reported experimental results from the literature show that both the FE model and the analytical (Rosenthal) equation provide a reasonably accurate estimation. At high heat input, under conditions leading to keyholing, the reported melt width is narrower than predicted by the analytical equation. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis based on choices of the absorptivity is performed, which shows that the Rosenthal approach is more sensitive to absorptivity, compared with the FE approach. The primary reason could be the effect of radiative and convective losses, which are assumed to be negligible in the Rosenthal equation. In addition, both methods predict a columnar solidification microstructure, which agrees well with experimental reports, and the primary dendrite arm spacing (PDAS) predicted with the two approaches is comparable with measurements.     

Cyclodepolymerization as a method for the synthesis of macrocyclic oligomers

Macrocyclic oligomers (MCOs) are important as starting materials for Entropically-driven Ring-opening Polymerizations (ED-ROPs). This article reviews the preparation of MCOs by the cyclodepolymerization (CDP) of condensation polymers. Many MCOs have been prepared successfully this way and in numerous cases individual macrocycles have been isolated. This approach can provide one-step syntheses of many macrocycles. The combination of CDP plus ED-ROP is an attractive potential method for recycling (‘Ring-chain Recycling’) many condensation polymers.     

Functionality of egg white proteins as affected by high intensity ultrasound

The goal of this contribution was to determine the impact of HIUS on the thermal aggregation, gelation, foaming and emulsifying properties of egg white (EW) proteins.